


Eclipse

by Dis_connect



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Student/Teacher, F/F, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-09 22:39:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2000595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dis_connect/pseuds/Dis_connect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They met in the Summer and lived in the Summer but the seasons change and their fairy tale has begun to fray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Solstice

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr Malora-Week prompt which I am dreadfully late for! I drew a total blank on it until hearing 'My Sweet Summer' by The Dirty Heads and then this happened. I posted it over on Tumblr and people seem to want more so reposting here for multi-chapter goodness. Let me know what you think! :)

 

 

 

Aurora loved summer.  
  
Sure the days were longer and the beaches perfect and school a distant dream for a time but Aurora loved summer mostly because it meant leaving her father's estate for a relaxing stay in a little country village where her long-gone mother had a quaint cottage.  It was literally a village, small enough that the nearest big-box store was a two hour drive (three if there were sheep) and the local grocer had been family owned and farm-supported for decades.  Her mother had always longed to retire there but Stefan always dreamed bigger and louder than sleepy, lush hamlets.  
  
Though it had been a number of years, Aurora was still of the mind that her father's ambition had driven her mum into an early grave.  Since her death, they had grown apart in spite of his efforts to bribe her back to his side.  
  
Mostly it was the time away.  Away from school and the expansive mansion that allowed father and daughter to live, work, and play in the same home without seeing each other for days.    
  
Other than sharing her mother's love for the countryside, Aurora found one superb reason to return in the six-foot, lanky brunette that lay stretched across the bed in a dozing attempt to claim the entire surface.  She finished yet another tiny braid of the long, dark tresses of her lover and kissed her shoulder blade.  "Maleficent."  
  
"Hn?"  
  
"You can stop pretending to sleep now."  
  
"Mm."  
  
"Diaval will be here soon."  
  
"Tell'm g'way." she grumbled into her pillow.  
  
Another kiss to the opposite shoulder blade.  Each press of her lips met the finely inked lines of Maleficent's 'stupid teenage mistake'; tattoos of wings that followed the fine bone structure under the skin.  It took Aurora three visits to get the private woman to open up about them; three years of zero promises, sparse communication, and summer stays where they burned hotter than peak days.  "Well..." she huffed, being deliberately irritating by clambering half-over her lover in pursuit of the watch on the night stand.  "...it's two o'clock.  Now we've spent the better part of almost four days fucking each others' brains out.  We probably aught to go stock up on actual food before the market closes."  
  
"Rice is food." Maleficent sighed, turning her face out of the pillow to be heard clearer.  
  
"Get up, lazybones."  
  
A grunt was her only reply.  
  
Aurora pinched her lover's side, dodged the half-hearted swat by sliding out from bed, and padded to the bathroom, toes curling against the dark, sun-warmed wood floor on the way.  After a few minutes the hot spray of a shower needled into her skin, sluicing off sweat and sex as much as possible without a lather.  
  
Full lips pressed to her neck, punctuated by the soft pinch of teeth.  
  
" **Now** you get up." Aurora snorted.  
  
"Wash my back?" she purred.  
  
Long fingers scratched down the lines of Aurora's back, getting the blonde to shudder.  "I told Diaval three o'clock."  
  
"I told him five." Maleficent growled.  
  
" _Mal_..." she whined, breath catching at the first pass of fingertips over her clit.  
  
The lanky brunette sighed, nibbling between Aurora's neck and shoulder.  "I wish I could go with you."  
  
Roaming touches became a firm hug around Aurora's waist that left her to turn just her head.  Maleficent's eyes were a thing of impossible beauty; a pretty green but in the right light, at the right time, they became gold.  How many nights Aurora found it difficult to study for simple memory of that steady gaze!  
  
It wasn't so steady now.  In fact, Maleficent's eyes remained low and moved between the glass door, Aurora's neck, and the shower head.  
  
This...arrangement, if it could be called that, wasn't something agreed upon with words.  Since Aurora began to visit Moorside, they had simply clicked and fell into something that grew harder and harder to leave each time.  Aurora had one or two flings at school in the first two years but lost her taste for anything but Maleficent thereafter.  They didn't talk about it.  They didn't mention anything about the world or their lives, rather they just enjoyed it while it lasted.    
  
It was the first time, ever, Aurora had confirmation that her lover felt the same as she.  "I would take you."  
  
With the mood lost, smoothed over by the quiet confessions, Maleficent reached for the shampoo.  "We would probably drive one another insane.  Remember the coffee versus tea debacle?"  
  
Aurora snorted with inelegant laughter and twisted to soak her hair.  "And the bacon war."  
  
Maleficent scoffed.  "More for you and Diaval.  Heathens."  
  
  
  
xxxx  
  
  
  
All good things.  
  
Maleficent hated the phrase.  More because it was true than because it was cliche but still.  
  
She'd come across the village of Moorside in a box of her parents' files.  At that point in her life, she was at such a low, she figured a little country air wouldn't be the worst that had happened.  She stayed at the overly-friendly BnB for her first few trips.  By her third visit, she stopped sticking out like a sore thumb.  After the fourth, she was staying at Aurora's cottage and feeling like her life was climbing back out of the pits.  
  
Maleficent restructured her life around her annual trip to Moorside, which probably should have been her first warning sign.  Hell if it wasn't worth it, though.  
  
Summers that were once spent trying to convince herself to get up, go out, and do even a little something that kept her noteworthy were now held in the lush pasture-land of Moorside with the company of a soul so brilliant and light, it was sometimes hard for Maleficent to look at her.  They went to silly dances and participated in the village's summer games.  Sometimes they went swimming in the lake or horseback riding or even helped out Diaval's family farm.    
  
Fingers strolled the channel of her spine, lazy and quiet.  Maleficent glared out at the dark sky, just daring the sun to peek its head over the horizon.  Aurora was plastered to her side, clinging in a way that announced their final hours in paradise.     
  
Maleficent had set the date.  It was the very last lingering moment she could spare before hanging herself professionally.  She was starting a new job and needed to be there early enough for the 'how do you do and shake hands' and such.    
  
That's just how it was.  One of them marked the final morning and neither asked anything about why; said nothing that would ruin the illusion for those precious weeks.  
  
She knew she aught to have slept.  Maleficent sighed and fought down a yawn.  It was corny as hell but she wanted each detail of their final hours to be etched into her memory.  This year, Aurora didn't sleep either and after wearing one another down to the point of shaking, they stared in the afterglow, speaking without words.  
  
When the first streaks of pink cut across the sky, Maleficent dragged herself from bed, each limb weighed almost more than she could bear.  "Time to go." she rasped.  
  
Aurora didn't reply.  
  
It took a while to find her clothes, last night hadn't been about caution at all, and get them stuffed into her suitcase before pulling out a fresh set.  One lonely shower and a glowering-match with the mirror later and Maleficent emerged, dressed but for her bare feet.  She was met by the very-naked form of Aurora who drew her into a smoldering kiss, pressed against her inch-for-inch.  Despite feeling the clock winding down, Maleficent gave in and allowed herself to be drawn backwards until they were in bed once more.  Braced over her lover, Maleficent slowly drew away to look upon swollen lips and sad, sad eyes.  "I'll miss you." she confessed in a whisper.  
  
Aurora felt the back of her eyes sting with tears but her voice held steady.  "We should meet here in the winter."  
  
Maleficent's eyes sparked with amusement.  "You're just dying to use that fireplace."  
  
"I mean it."  
  
She kissed Aurora once more, mumuring against her lips.  "I have to go."  
  
And she did.

  
  
xxxx

  
  
Aurora devoted a great deal of thought to the increased agony of their annual parting.    
  
She didn't stay in the cottage after Maleficent left.  Instead, she stayed with Diaval's kin and their strong love for her and each other buoyed the young heiress until it was her time to leave.  The entire drive back to her father's estate had to be done in silence because the radio mocked her with each song played.  It was melodramatic and stupid and Aurora vaulted between being angry and tragic right up until she entered the Eastern wing of the mansion.  Her father was away on business - no surprise but certainly a relief.  
  
He wouldn't be back until after her first day of classes.  Aurora feigned disappointment and the steward didn't hide his chuckling very well.  
  
Once more immersed in the commercial world, Aurora spent her final days of freedom shopping for necessities and generally letting people know she was back in town.  Her father made it hard to get close to people so the list was dreadfully short.  Still, during the year, she would make plenty of acquaintances and hope for strong ties to come of them.  
  
When day one rolled around, Aurora went about her day with the sort of lackadaisical attention all students paid at the very beginning.  She had learned early it didn't pay to be the one person that always knew what was going on in class.  Granted, she always _did_ know but she didn't going around acting like it.  Somehow it made for poor friends.  
  
Diaval called her after lunch, absolutely gushing about his new baby niece.  Pictures were sent and while Aurora had to agree that she was a cute baby, Diaval reminded her of Maleficent and that sent her mood into a downward spiral.  By the time she dragged herself into BioChem, Aurora was already checked out for the day.  
  
That was probably the reasoning for her sudden stop, forcing others to move around her.  Going from 'completely checked out' to 'acutely focused' no doubt broke something in her brain.  
  
At the bottom of the lecture hall stood Maleficent, dressed in black slacks and a blue silk shirt with her hair gathered back into a tight ponytail.  On the white board behind her was written: "Professor Moor, Biochemistry 104".  
  
Aurora, by some miracle of engineering, managed to find a seat without tripping down the stairs.  She prayed to all she knew that Maleficent wouldn't see her, would just glaze right over her class instead of seeing faces.  
  
But no.  
  
Green eyes scanned the filling seats and landed squarely on Aurora, widening before narrowing and moving on.  Aurora sunk down low in her seat.  
  
 _Shit_.  
  
  


 

 


	2. Equinox

 

 

 

 

If Maleficent was nervous, it didn't show.  
  
She ran a very professional and fairly energetic show.  She smiled and laughed and Aurora...  
  
Fuck, Aurora was _jealous_!  
  
Those smiles were for her summer.  That laughter was reserved for her worst jokes.  Aurora was meant to have them in memory and yet they existed right there.  In front of her.  In front of an entire class.  
  
Thankfully, her muscle-memory was in good shape and her phone was recording the class.  Aurora's body was numb with shock and the sick swill of emotions drawn out of hiding.  Logically, she knew Maleficent existed in the outside world; that she likely had other people to laugh and talk with.  But there was something about watching her there, so close as she strolled back and forth with lazy confidence, that made her **real** in a way that frightened Aurora.    
  
When the announcing bell rang, the young blonde all but sprinted out of class.  
  
Maleficent watched her leave over the shoulders of a few lingering students who were smitten to various degrees.  She hated herself for the relief that let her shoulders sag at last.  
  
  
  
xxxx  
  
  
  
Aurora tried different seats in the class in some effort to hide yet it was always in vain.  Maleficent's gaze was keen and deadly in its accuracy.  However it wasn't until Aurora wore a scarf on the first day cool enough that she figured out why.  
  
It grew easier over three weeks to simply sit in the lecture hall and take notes.  As long as Aurora's thoughts stayed with the material and didn't linger on the feeling of their last kiss (crisp clothing pressed to her naked skin) or the timbre of Maleficent's voice (low and rough, smooth and cocky, breathless and keening), she usually managed to make it through the session unscathed by a barrage of emotions.  Some screamed that her precious, gossamer summer would never happen again; that reality had intruded and ripped it to shreds.  Others cackled in delight and urged her to stay after class.  Surely Aurora could afford to miss a class or two of archery without suffering anything but the sweetest of agonies.  
  
"You're staring again."  
  
"Huh?" Aurora startled, pen clattering onto the desk.  "Damn."  
  
"I think I'm gonna start bringing tissues...or a bib.  You'll ruin your notes otherwise."  
  
"Shut up."  
  
Phillip's eyes crinkled at the corners as he guffawed quietly.  He was a friend-hopeful that had initially hoped for more than just coffee and homework in the quad.  Aurora had been sure to stamp out that dream yet was surprised when Phillip continued to be her friend.  He was handsome and witty and well-off, the sort that Stefan would have approved of mightily, not that Aurora was about to bring him around the estate.  No, that was the best way to kill off a growing friendship, as she had learned through unfortunate trial and error.  
  
"I'm sure you were just deep in thought." he winked and whispered.  " _Ooo, Professor Moor_!"  
  
Her pale skin flushed crimson and she shoved him hard.  "Oh my god, really?!"  
  
People around them snickered and cleared their throats.  Aurora about died when she heard, "Mr Summerland.  Miss Rose.  Something you'd care to share?"  
  
Aurora wasn't turned on by the strict tone.  Absolutely not.  Nope.  "N-No, Professor Moor.  Sorry."  
  
"Yeah, sorry." Phillip added, biting vigorously at his lower lip to keep from grinning like an idiot.  
  
Green eyes looked between them and then dropped just the tiniest bit, so small Aurora never would have noticed if she hadn't spent years under their gaze.  It was too low to be her face but too high to be her chest.  Aurora adjusted her scarf self-consciously and froze when she spied the most subtle narrowing of Maleficent's eyes and a bare twitch to her upper lip.  It happened in the span of heartbeats though each moment was crystal clear in Aurora's eye.  
  
Maleficent resumed her class, turning back to the white board.  Aurora elbowed Phillip once more for good measure while her mind lingered on the moments.  
  
When the bell sounded this time, Aurora didn't run.  She didn't allow herself to be herded out or convinced to try and get coffee between classes (there was always a line, anyway).  She sent Phillip on his way, mercifully not giving him the literal ass-kicking she would've liked, and stepped down the stairs for the first time in weeks.  
  
Two other students lingered, the number of post-class-ass-kissers having dropped off sharply when they realized she wasn't up for their immature flirting games, and Aurora waited patiently.  Her heart rate picked up when one of them left and she curled her fingers around the strap of her messenger bag as the second turned away.  Then it was just Maleficent but Aurora still waited until the lecture hall doors closed, the click of the strike plate echoing in the space.  
  
Maleficent turned and began to organize her desk.  "Something I can help you with, Miss Rose?  Constructing paper airplanes to further disrupt the class, perhaps?"  
  
"Phillip was just being an ass.  I really am sorry."  
  
She grunted and put away one sheaf of papers only to produce another, tapping the edges smartly on the desktop.    
  
"...Maleficent, I--"  
  
"Professor Moor, if you would, Miss Rose." Maleficent leaned against her desk as though to contemplate the swathe of information on the board.  
  
Oh hell no.  Aurora's jaw firmed.  "I'm not sleeping with him."  
  
"Not yet." she snipped, then winced as if she hadn't meant to speak at all.  
  
"I'm not ever.  Look at me.  Please."  
  
Maleficent looked at the scarf instead.  Aurora was much too close, too damn close.  Fingers teased around one set of her own, uncurling them from the edge of the desk and drawing them up just under Aurora's chin.  Under her own power, Maleficent grabbed the material and pulled with far more force than necessary.    
  
Aurora cheekily turned her head from one side to the other, putting the unmarred planes of skin on display.  "See?  Nothing.  Ever."  
  
Her relief was palpable - and obvious if Aurora's tiny smirk was anything to go by.  "You should go.  You'll be late."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Maleficent scoffed.  "Why didn't _you_ tell **me**?"  She had done the math since the initial shock.  Aurora had been a minor when they took up this...this habit.  Christ, if anyone ever found out...  
  
As if reading her thoughts, Aurora shrank back.  "I didn't think it mattered."  
  
"It didn't matter?!" she growled, full of anger and hurt and guilt as she caused her lover to shrink further towards the board.  "Do you realize what could happen if anyone finds out?!"  
  
"I haven't told anyone!"  
  
In fact, no one but the sleepy town of Moorside even knew that they knew each other.  Maleficent ran her hands through her hair only to remember she was still holding the scarf.  "Here.  Go to class."  
  
Aurora wound the material around her neck again.  "We need to talk, Maleficent."  
  
They didn't talk.  That was the beauty of the illusion.  No outside world.  Nothing but the summer.  Maleficent scowled mightily.  "We don't talk."  
  
"Clearly we have to start."  She reached out and captured one of Maleficent's hands.  "But I can understand if this is scary for you.  Because of your work.  If you want to stop just...just tell me."  
  
It was hard enough for Aurora to suggest it.  Maleficent pulled her lover close, winding her free hand around the lithe waist.  She breathed deep of Aurora's shampoo and faded perfume.  "You saved me," she whispered.  "I was lost in the dark until you came."  
  
"Literally?  Ow!"  
  
Maleficent interrupted the blonde's watery laugh with a firm pinch to her hip.  "Come to my house.  Tonight."  
  
Aurora looked up, focused more on Maleficent's lips than her eyes.  "We don't have to wait that long."  
  
With a dark chuckle, the brunette leaned in close but pulled up short at the last second, smirking when Aurora sulked.  "Greedy little beastie."  
  
"Tease."  
  
She snorted and wriggled free enough to jot down her address and hand it off.  "Now, go to class."  
  
  
  
xxxx  
  
  
  
  
"How many years have you been a teacher?"  
  
Maleficent hummed thoughtfully, swallowing her mouthful of wine to answer.  "Ten years now.  Off and on.  Sometimes I choose research over school.  This is my first time teaching at the University level."  
  
 _Aurora had all but flown home after school and emptied the entire contents of her walk-in closet to find just the right outfit.  Then it was an hour or two of sulking and debating and completely ignoring her homework while thinking of what sort of makeup to wear.  On the drive, she had a number of wild imaginings of how this 'first' meeting might go and wondered if it wouldn't be easier to just break the ice with something more familiar.  Mind-blowing sex, for example._  
  
"Well you're doing excellent.  I would've said you've been doing this forever."  
  
"How did you end up in my class?"  
  
"Oh."  She giggled.  "I'm studying biology with a focus on physiology."  
  
 _Maleficent's home was generally well-organized yet she spent an hour making sure everything was perfect, followed immediately by another hour of 'messing' things up.  She didn't want to come across as unapproachable.  Next came time to agonize over dinner only to have it delivered almost too late to plate.  By the time Aurora rang the doorbell, Maleficent had managed to organize food and her environment at the cost of personal appearance.  Somewhat sheepishly, she had answered the door in bare feet, jeans, and her rumpled dress shirt from earlier._  
  
"Any particular reason why?"  
  
Aurora sighed and offered a small smile.  "My mum.  She was really big into saving the earth and all that.  I guess it's my own stupid way of remembering her."  
  
"It's not stupid."  
  
The warm, low tone combined with gorgeous golden eyes made Aurora melt on the spot.  
  
 _Her home was a fine reflection of the woman; well-composed and full of dark accents.  Aurora received the nickel tour, which helped her feel less awkward about being more dressed up than her lover.  Granted, a sun-dress wasn't exactly 'dressy' but combined with a set of heels and jewelry accents, it was downright flashy next to Maleficent's dress shirt and jeans.  Aurora kicked off the heels and tucked her bracelets and earrings away and felt even less out of place.  When she teased Maleficent about testing her bedsprings, the professor tutted and stole her hands back.  Dinner first.  Then talking._  
  
Because talking was Aurora's idea.  She had to remember that.  But when Maleficent kept looking at her like that, like she was the only thing in all the world, Aurora found it almost impossible to not reach out.  "So what do we do now?"  
  
Maleficent waited until Aurora swallowed her wine.  They were long-past dinner and deep into talking and some tinny voice at the back of her head reminded her that she could delay further with dessert.  However this was part of 'talking' and she was going to see it through like a goddamned adult.  "I don't want to stop seeing you."  
  
"I like the sound of that."  
  
"However it's unethical for me to date a student."  
  
Aurora set her glass down, annoyed and dispirited.  "Of course."  
  
"We can still have the summer."  
  
They winced in tandem.  Aurora shook her head.  "Don't you see?  We can't.  We can't go back to...to _pretending_ this exists in some kind of eternal summer!"  She left the table to pace into the living room.  There was no surprise when Maleficent followed and that hurt as much as it comforted.  "I don't know what this is but now that I know you're here, that you exist outside of that beautiful place..." her voice faded for a moment and she bit her lip to try and call it back.  
  
Maleficent regarded her with sombre, sad eyes.  "I don't want to end this, Aurora.  But the university--"  
  
"Doesn't have to know!" her voice returned with a vengeance.  "We are smart, Maleficent!  We can be careful..." She scooped up one of Maleficent's hands to kiss the meat of her palm followed by her wrist, lingering at the thrumming pulse.  "...and quiet."  
  
"I've yet to hear you be quiet." she snorted.  
  
Aurora laughed softly, growing more bold by the cracks that her lover's joking showed.  She leaned up to kiss her collarbones and drew the tip of her nose along the line of the dress shirt to where it met its twin cinched between the brunette's breasts.  "Oh god, Mal...you're real and if I don't get to touch you, I think I'd rather die."  
  
Maleficent sighed but drew Aurora up into a kiss.  "This is such a bad idea."  
  
"Mmm, the best idea."

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could be the end. I did mention something about winter, though. Three parts? :)


	3. Midterms

 

 

 

"Marshmallows?"  
  
"What?" Aurora blinked, sealing the cap on her drink and sending the barista a thankful smile.  "You can't have cocoa without marshmallows."  
  
"I see." she murmured into her chai, eyes narrowing when the barista lingered, gaze lower than it aught to be.  
  
Aurora made an attempt to pay for the unusual request but was waved off by the barista, who informed her it was on the house - complete with a wink.  Maleficent shoved her free hand into her coat pocket rather than punch the ignorant dolt.  She looked at the bags of coffee on display while Aurora added a touch of hazelnut creamer to her drink.  
  
"Stare any harder, _Professor Moor_ , and you'll set those poor beans on fire." Aurora chided lightly.  
  
Maleficent sniffed and wove her way out of the throng.  Her efforts at a neutral front must have worked since people didn't seem to realize they were poking the dragon the longer they stood in her way.    
  
When Aurora joined her, Maleficent was given another verbal slap on the wrist.  "Free marshmallows, Mal.  Really?  That's what has your dander up today?"  
  
She knew damn well that wasn't it but Aurora was utterly immune to the professor's temper.  Maleficent shrugged, both hands warming around her to-go cup as she sipped.  "He's about your age."  
  
" **You're** about my heart, you stubborn goat.  I thought we cleared up that little 'age' issue last week."  
  
Not exactly.  They had talked.  Talking turned into fighting, which Aurora ended by her favorite means.  "I'm not a goat." she grumbled petulantly.  
  
"One of these days, all that jealousy is going to sprout off your head like a pair of winding horns."  
  
The joke was there and Maleficent was willing to suffer a blow to her dignity to make Aurora laugh but they were interrupted.  
  
"Professor Moor!  Aurora!  I didn't expect to see you out and about on campus so early!"  
  
"Phillip!"  Aurora beamed and made to hug her friend but paused a good two arm-lengths away.  "Ew.  You've been running."  
  
"Keep adding cream to your cocoa and you'll have to start joining me." He waggled a brow and lunged for her.  Aurora shrieked as she was scooped up into the sweaty embrace and spun about.  
  
Phillip wasn't a threat.  Not even a blip on the radar.  According to Aurora he was like her gay best friend, minus the gay.  Maleficent stood away from the chaos, feeling awkward while holding the cocoa she'd captured to keep it from ruin.  She quietly stewed in impotent anger.  Who the hell was he to have his arms around her when Maleficent couldn't even hold her damn hand?!  
  
Coming to the realization that he was acting like a child in front of his teacher, Phillip set Aurora down and smiled through his blush.  "Sorry, professor.  Good save."  
  
"Thank you, Mr Summerland." she replied, immeasurably pleased with the perfect amount of disdainful indifference in her voice.  
  
"I was just asking Professor Moor about the midterm."  Aurora reclaimed her cocoa with a small smile that their company missed.  
  
"Oh, right!" Phillip perked up.  "Hey, I was wondering if carbs and lipids are going to be on it or if we'll be tested on them after the break."  
  
Maleficent's class had been antsy in the extreme during the week before break.  She'd cut out the two most recent topics to save their poor brains but added in two essay questions to keep them from flying through the ending.  She answered their questions as vaguely as possible and managed to attract another student from a class held earlier in the day.  It was an advanced class and they were quickly off on topics too complex for the general biochem students beside them.  
  
Phillip scooped up some half-melted snow and sidled up to Aurora, compounding the slushy ice into a ball.  "So..."  He cleared his throat.  "I see your crush is going on stronger than ever."  
  
"Would you lay off that?" she scowled, tearing her eyes away from the discussion to stare at her drink.  
  
He tossed the packed slush off to the side and stole the cup, taking a swig.  "Seriously.  Those pretty blue eyes are gonna start flashing green."  
  
Aurora rolled said eyes.  "Are we still on for break?"  
  
"Heck yeah!  I think you're gonna love it."  
  
"I don't know.  I don't really like the cold."  Aurora sometimes felt cold when she slept, as though her body went into an unnatural stasis.  It grew worse after her mother died.  Maleficent was always so very, very warm and never once complained if Aurora was too clingy in sleep.  
  
"When you hit the slopes, you warm up really fast.  Trust me, yeah?"  Phillip picked up her hand and squeezed in a show of earnestness.  
  
Aurora felt the fine hairs at the nape of her neck stand on end.  She gingerly reclaimed her hand.  "Why don't you go shower and change?  We can meet up for lunch before biochem if you want."  
  
"Sounds like a deal."  He leaned in to kiss her, paused, and smiled apologetically.  "Er...sorry."  
  
She pressed her lips into a thin smile and stepped back.  Phillip jogged off and Aurora sighed, breath steaming.  Perhaps spending the break apart was a bad idea.  Maleficent suggested it.  Aurora had agreed.  For the sake of image.  Besides, they weren't attached at the hip.  They both had lives away from each other and for years had spent all but three or four months apart.  Being apart for a week wouldn't kill them.  
  
Now, if only Aurora could believe that.  
  
  
  
xxxx  
  
  
  
There she stood, surrounded by great food, fine drinks, superb minds, and all Maleficent wanted to do was go lie down and sleep off her headache.  
  
Still, she smiled politely and nodded where appropriate.  The university threw a small get-together for the faculty mid-break as a way of helping their staff with getting to know each other away from work.  Already Maleficent had turned down three offers of dates, two of them were even sober, and declined to join several folks at the 'after-party' where, apparently, the ties came loose and the staff enjoyed a proper night out.    
  
Maleficent just wanted her tea and her books and her Aurora.  Her student, Aurora.  
  
The little title had been needling at Maleficent all break thus far, reminding her that they were walking on thin ice, even if they had been doing a fine job until then.  She had hope that it was just a semester, just a few months, but no.  Aurora was enlisted in her lab course for the following semester which, ironically, would put their freedom right back in the summer.  Perhaps she could convince Aurora to withdraw or choose any other instructor...  
  
"Hello?" she greeted into her phone, squished into a corner to reduce the noise around her.  
  
"Mally!"  
  
"Diaval." Maleficent breathed his name in relief.  
  
"Sounds like you're being yourself."  
  
"How's that?"  
  
"You've found the one quiet spot in a roomful of otherwise fun and outgoing people."  
  
"I should hang up on you right now."  
  
"Ah-ah!  You know I love you."  
  
"Uh-huh.  What do you want?"  
  
"Well, it's going to get really quiet here soon and I'd like to get out of this pastoral heaven before the roads completely ice over.  Got a place I can stay?"  
  
Maleficent chuckled.  "On the great-mate-hunt again, are we?"  
  
"Well, that and there's a brand new baby in an already-stuffed house so it's time for another of the Black clan to get kicked from the nest."  
  
She paused in surprise.  "You mean...you're moving out?"  
  
"A Black never truly leaves home." he growled in imitation of his father's voice.  "But yeah.  I figure there's got to be something a dull farm-boy like me can do in the big city."  
  
Her eyes rolled at the hammed-up yokel accent.  "Farm-boy my ass.  You've got a degrees in history and literature."  
  
"Shh, shh!  Not so loud!  The rest of the town will hear and know I'm actually a city-spy!"  
  
Maleficent laughed softly, though it died off as she thought about her home.  "I can put you up..."  
  
"...buuuut?"  
  
She looked around and while the balcony looked promising, Maleficent had seen more than one amorous pair headed that way.  "When are you leaving?"  
  
"I can be packed up and on the road in a day."  
  
That would give her time.  Hopefully enough time.  "Alright.  Do that and I'll explain when you get here."  
  
  
  
xxxx  
  
  
  
Aurora was ever-so-grateful that she had her own room on this adventure.  She was positive that she'd been mumbling Maleficent's name in her sleep if her dreams were anything to go by.  
  
The night before her flight out, Aurora had been ridden hard and put away so wet she could still feel it on the plane the next morning.  It was embarrassing and affirming and she'd hardly been able to think through the hazy afterglow that her mind was stuck in.  Phillip had been mildly concerned but after she told him, honestly, that she hadn't gotten much sleep, he left her to staring out the window at the passing clouds while he entertained the rest of his passengers.  
  
At the resort, Aurora showered, again, and caught a brief nap before joining Phillip and the others he had invited for the safety briefing that was mandatory before they could hit the mountain.  The snow certainly cooled her ardor and she was able to laugh and race and live in the present.  Phillip was quite impressive, landing high jumps and generally strutting his stuff to great effect.  Aurora noticed he didn't go to bed alone that first night.  
  
Each night they were stuffed to the gills with decadence before rolling off to bed.  Those hours, Aurora toyed with the idea of calling Maleficent.  Each night she decided against it, though her phone remained close.  Just in case.  
  
The day of their return to civilization was light-hearted and Aurora was a hundred times more present than when they'd arrived.  When the announcement sounded that they were landing, her heart kicked up a few paces.  There was no way Maleficent would be waiting for her, Phillip had cars waiting to take people various places, but they were back.  The weather was grey and miserable and threatening snow but they were back!  She barely remembered to thank Phillip before jumping into a car and requesting an address.    
  
As they arrived, the driver laughed and assured her he didn't need to be paid or tipped or otherwise - Phillip had it in-hand.  Aurora still thanked him aplenty until he drove off.  Then she stood at the threshold, plucked at her clothes until they sat perfectly, and rang the doorbell.  
  
It wasn't Maleficent.  
  
" _Diaval_!!"  
  
Surprised, the farm-hand caught Aurora as she swung off his neck.  He turned a **look** on Maleficent though, and the brunette's stomach dropped.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, looks like there will be four parts. :)


End file.
